baesball almanac

[flaco1801]

was watching mlb network... sept 1970 game pirates against expos... george brunet comes in to pitch wearing number 4 seemed odd a pitcher wearing that number... checked the almanac and it has brunet listed as number 22

[MSpecht]

It looks like a case of "find / make a jersey that fits, 'cause we aren't ready for him."

Brunet was traded from the Washington Senators to the Pirates on 8/31/1970. Following his travel from Washington ( at home on 8/31) to Montreal (Pirates away game vs Expos on 9/1/1970 following a series in San Francisco,) Brunet pitched 1/3 inning against the Expos on the following day, 9/1/1970. He also threw 1/3 inning against the Expos on the next day, 9/2/1970. The game you saw is one of those two games, as the Pirates had only one more series against the Expos in 1970, in Pittsburgh 9/22/1970 (doubleheader) thru 9/24/1970. Brunet started the game on 9/23/1970, and did not play in the other games during that series.

Given the fact that # 4 was not assigned to any Pirate players that season (Baseball Almanac / Now Batting Number ...) the team likely had the extra jersey with them, or made it up quickly upon Brunet's arrival . He later switched to # 22, the third Pirate to wear that number in 1970.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[joelsabi]

how good a source is the baseball almanac for finding NOB? do they come out annually?

also what better sources are out there for Number on Back?

[MSpecht]

Here is the best $5.00 you'll ever spend for this type of resource:

http://www.amazon.com/Now-Batting-Number-Superstition-Baseballs/dp/1579125751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240768650&sr=8-1

Also, the www.baseball-almanac.com website is a pretty reliable resource going at it from either a player prospective like this (bottom of page) :

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=brunege01

or from a team prospective like this:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1970&t=PIT

Individual team Media Guides are excellent resources as well, and often list the hard-to-find spring training information. Street & Smith Baseball

http://cgi.ebay.com/STREET-SMITH-BAS...3A1%7C294%3A50



and Baseball Digest for specific years

http://cgi.ebay.com/Baseball-Digest-...3A1%7C294%3A50



are good and can often be found on ebay as well.


Good Luck

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

[Birdbats]

how good a source is the baseball almanac for finding NOB?

baseball-almanac.com is a very good resource, but it has many errors. I find it a little scary when I question an auction house about a particular jersey and they base their authentication (in part) on that site. I think in compiling their numbers, that site used media guides and yearbooks, which often had spring training numbers attached to players. By the time they were called up, the players wore different numbers.

If you're looking for Cardinals numbers, you can reference my site (birdbats.com). I know of a third-party Mets site (mbtn.net) that is the best resource for that team. Anybody know of any other niche sites?

[suave1477]

This is a good resource for Yankees uniform numbers


http://www.yankeenumbers.com/

[sox83cubs84]

It looks like a case of "find / make a jersey that fits, 'cause we aren't ready for him."

Brunet was traded from the Washington Senators to the Pirates on 8/31/1970. Following his travel from Washington ( at home on 8/31) to Montreal (Pirates away game vs Expos on 9/1/1970 following a series in San Francisco,) Brunet pitched 1/3 inning against the Expos on the following day, 9/1/1970. He also threw 1/3 inning against the Expos on the next day, 9/2/1970. The game you saw is one of those two games, as the Pirates had only one more series against the Expos in 1970, in Pittsburgh 9/22/1970 (doubleheader) thru 9/24/1970. Brunet started the game on 9/23/1970, and did not play in the other games during that series.

Given the fact that # 4 was not assigned to any Pirate players that season (Baseball Almanac / Now Batting Number ...) the team likely had the extra jersey with them, or made it up quickly upon Brunet's arrival . He later switched to # 22, the third Pirate to wear that number in 1970.

Mike jackitout7@aol.com

Yeah, those things do happen once in a great while. Kent Bottenfield joined the Giants two days before the 1994 strike ended the MLB season, and had a road jersey with no name on back. I picked it up from Dick Dobbins in the 1995-96 off-season, based on his becoming a Cub in '96. Bottenfield went nuts in a positive way when he saw it...he wanted it for himself. I ended up trading it to him for a Cubs 1996 BP jersey he wore, and still have that #45 BP 13 years later.

Dave M.
Chicago area

[flaco1801]

george brunet was pitching into his 50's in the mexican leagues... if i remember correctly

[MSpecht]

Here's a niche site for Red Sox numbers;

http://www.redsoxdiehard.com/players/unifnums.html

Mike Jackitout7@aol.com

[trsent]

Here is the best $5.00 you'll ever spend for this type of resource:

http://www.amazon.com/Now-Batting-Number-Superstition-Baseballs/dp/1579125751/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240768650&sr=8-1

Mike, thanks for the link. Bought a Like New copy for .34-cents (less than the price of mailing a letter) plus $3.99 shipping!